Package for glass sheets



March 14, 1967 Filed June 30, 1965 J. S. KEAN, $R.. ETAL PACKAGE FOR GLASS SHEETS 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TORS ameieffa/mlk BY 4 4 #Wmmd iyowefzf ATTORNEYS will-.2

J. 5. KEAN, 5a.. ETAL 3,308,941 PACKAGE FOR GLASS SHEETS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 30, 1965 1 N VEN TORS United States Patent @filice 3,308,941 PACKAGE FOR GLASS SHEETS James Samuel Kean, Sn, Ralph C. Hansen, and Frederick L. Metzger, all of Toledo, Ohio, assignors to Libbey- Owens-Ford Glass Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed June 30, 1965, Ser. No. 468,206

. 6 Claims. (Cl. 206-62) The present invention relates generally to the field of packaging, and more particularly to the packaging of frangible sheet material such as glass.

Heretofore glass sheets, and particularly sheets of window glass, have generally been packaged in wooden boxes at the factory for shipment to consumer outlets. Such boxes normally have a standard capacity of about fifty square feet of glass. Due to the wide variation in sizes of sheets which are packaged for shipment, the boxes necessarily assume a great many sizes and shapes. A special box shop is generally operated within the glass plant to assemble the boxes. Not only are the raw materials for producing such boxes expensive, but a large amount of skilled; relatively expensive labor is also re quired'in their constructionfl Since it is seldom if ever practicable to return the empty boxes for reuse, their cost constitutes an important factor in the cost of producing the glass.

Furthermore, the actual packing of the glass sheets in the wooden boxes is time consuming. The edges of the sheets must be protected by a resilient material such as paper or cardboard, which is added during loading of the partially assembled box in order to avoid breakage clue to impact between the sheets and the box. Upon completion of the packing of the box, the fin-al section is nailed in position and the box is ready for shipment.

An important object of the invention, therefore, re-

sides in the provision of a new and improved package for glass sheets which is sturdy ye-t relatively inexpensive.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a package for'glass sheets which can be mass produced in any size, and which can be filled with the sheets and thereafter sealed by relatively unskilled labor.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a container for packaging a plurality of glass sheets in faceto-face relation wherein the edges and corners of the sheets are protected against damage-due to rough handling of the container.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a package for glass sheets which is suitable for shipping either as an individual container or for assembling into larger units for palletized handling.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent during the course of the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating one form of packaging device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the package taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the relationship of the various components of the package;

FIG. 4 is a transverse'vertical sectional view taken along the line 44 in FIG. '1; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing details of one form of edge cushioning strip constructed in accordance with the invention.

According to the invention, glass sheets are packed, in a pre-assembled container or carton of a material such as corrugated fibreboard, with cushioning material around their edges and with reinforcing pads over their corners. The filled cartons and containers are closed by folding Patented Mar. 14, 1957 over and sealing the end flaps thereof. Both the packing and sealing can be accomplished by unskilled labor. The container thus provided aifords ample protection to the sheets for handling and shipping, and is light in weight and relatively inexpensive to produce and use compared to glass packages employed heretofore. Furthermore, the container can be opened and rescaled easily and quickly without impairing its strength. This feature is. of particular benefit to consumers who may wish to trim a small amount from the sheets and then forward them to other locations for further processing.

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown generally at 113a packaging device constructed according to the invention. in the packaging device, a plurality of sheets 11 of glass or other frangible material are stacked in face-to-face relationship within an outer car-ton 12. The carton is rectangular in shape, with its actual dimensions being determined by the size of the sheets to be packed therein. As aforementioned, window glass is generally shipped in lots of approximately fifty square feet, so that the width as well as the height and length of the cartons will vary for different dimensions of sheets.

As best shown in FIG. 3, the outer carton comprises a rectangular box including ends 13, opposite sides 14, and a bottom 15 and top 16. The bottom and top are formed by folding over and securing side flaps 17 and 18, which depend from and are extensions of the sides 14, and end flaps 19, depending from the ends 13 of the carton. More particularly, to close the ends of the carton the end flaps 19 are folded inwardly, and the side flaps 17 and 18 are folded in overlapping fashion with the outer flap 18 being held in position by a strip Ell of a suitable adhesive tape secured to the edge of the flap and extending along and attached to the side 14. As will be hereinafter explained, reinforcing pads are fitted over the corners of the sheets to provide additional protection in that critical area, and consequently in certain instances it is possible to omit the end fiaps 19. This is particularly true where the area of each sheet is relatively large so that the number of sheets in each box is correspondingly small.

The carton may alternatively be sealed by gluing: or stapling the overlapping outer flap 18 to the inner flap 17 in the conventional manner. luing of the overlapping fiaps is particularly well adapted to mechanization. so that where the packaging unit it to be mechanically closed, this form of sealing may be desirable. It has been found that sealing the carton with an adhesive strip in the manner illustrated in the drawings provides a somewhat stronger unit than gluing or stapling the overlapping flaps, due to the fact that the outer flap is secured directly to the opposite side Wall 14 instead of to the other flap. To facilitate opening, it is-contemplated that the flaps may be provided with a conventional tear-strip opener (not shown) when desired.

To provide resiliency and otherwise protect the edges of the sheets, cushioning strips are positioned completely around the perimeter of the stack of sheets within the carton. As 'best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the top and bottom cushioning strips 21 generally extend the full length of the carton, and the end strips 22 are of such length as to extend between the top and bottom strips, thereby providing a protective layer entirely'around the edge of the stack of sheets and securing the sheets against edgewise movement within the carton.

A portion of a cushioning strip havingconsiderable crushing strength and particularly well adapted for use in the invention is illustrated generally at 2.3 in FIG. 5.

As shown therein, the cushioning strip comprises sheets 24 of a material such as paperboard or fiberboard sepaplace corner pads over the upper corners.

large corrugations and layers 26 having relatively small corrugations. The layers are bonded by a suitable adand 26 in the cushioning strip will be dependent upon the thickness of the carton since the cushioning strip is substantially equal in width to the interior thickness dimension of the carton 12. It will be understood, of course, that the cushioning strips may be formed of any suitable material which will provide adequate support for the sheets while also having sufficient resiliency to protect their edges.

As discussed above, pads 27 fitted over the corners of the stackof sheets provide additional protection at this most critical point. The corner pads, generally fabricated in advance, as, for example, by folding fiat, T-shaped. sheets of corrugated fibreboard in a well-known manner, are maintained in assembled condition by suitable adhesive strips 28. The pads thus assembled can readily be placed on the corners of the stack of sheets during packaging.

Describing briefly the use .of the invention, the cartons 12 are received from the manufacturer either. as stamped. blanks or in a flattened state having the bottom 15 and.

top 16 open in the customary manner. All of the components for the package are stockpiled in a variety of sizes so as to be readily available for packing a number of standard sizes of glass sheets. The cartons are assembled and the bottom 15 is closed by first folding the end flaps 19 inwardly, then folding the inner side :fiap

17 over the end fiaps, and finally folding over the outer side flap 18 and securing it with the adhesive strip 20.

The actual insertion of the sheets into the carton may be carried out in. a number of ways. procedure, the cushioning strip 21 is placed in the bottom of the carton and cushioning strips 22 are located at eitherend thereof. The bottom corner pads 27. are then positioned cushioning strips, and the sheets, either individually or in a stack, are deposited with their lower corners in the respective corner pads. Alternatively, the sheets to be packagedin a single carton are assembled in a stack with the bottom pads 27 in position on the lower corners of the stack. The stack isthen inserted into the carton between the end cushioning strips 22, and the top corner pads are added. Assembly of the package is completed by placing the cushioning strip 21 across the tops of the sheets and the corner pads 27, and folding and sealing the flaps 17, 18 and 19 with an adhesive strip 20in the manner above described for closing the bottom of the carton.

Still another procedure is to assemble the requisite number of sheets on edge in an upright position and Cushioning strips arethen placed across the top and along the ends of the stack,: and the carton is inverted and slipped over the sheets and cushioning strips. The carton, with the sheets therein, is again inverted and closure of the carton is completed as described above.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodiment of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. A container forpackagingfrangible sheet material, comprising a rectangular cartonrhaving a pair ofspaced, relatively large side walls joined by narrow end walls, flaps depending from the opposite side walls folded and secured in overlapping relation to close the bottom and top of said container, a plurality of rectangular sheets According to one within the carton abutting the bottom and end stacked in face-to-face relationshipv within said carton, a corner pad over each corner of said stack of sheets, and a cushioningstrip between each edge of the stack of sheets and the corresponding top, bottom and end wallsv of said carton.

2..A container for packaging frangible sheet material as claimed in claim 1, in which said cushioning strips are formed of alternate layers of sheet material and corrugated material bonded together to form a cushioning strip substantially equal in width to the thickness ofthe stack of sheets, said cushioning strips being positioned so that the corrugations extend normalto the adjacent edge of said stack of sheets.

3. A container for packaging frangiblesheetmaterial as claimed in claim 1, including an adhesive strip secured along the free edge of the outer of said overlapping flaps and extending over and secured to the opposite side wall of said carton for securing said flaps in said overlapping relation.

4. A container for packaging frangible sheet material, comprising a rectangular carton having a pair of spaced, relatively large side walls joined by narrow end walls, flaps depending from the opposite side Walls folded and secured in overlapping relation to close the bottom and free edge of the outer of said overlapping flaps and extending over and secured to the opposite side wall of said carton for securing said flaps in said overlapping relation, a plurality of rectangular sheets stacked in said face-toface relationship within said carton, acorner pad over each corner of said stack of sheets, said corner pads being formed from flat sheets of corrugated fibreboard,

tion-ship, a corner pad fitted over each corner of the stack.

of sheets, a cushioning strip extending along each edge of said stack outside of said corner pads, said cushioning strip being substantially equal in width tothe thickness of said stack, and a rectangular carton within which the assembled stack of sheets, corner pads and cushioning strips are contained, said carton having interior dimensions substantially equal to the dimensions of thestack of sheets and cushioning strips extending therearound;

6.v A container for packaging. frangible sheet material as claimed in claim 5, in which said carton comprises a pair of spaced, relatively large side. walls'connected by narrow end walls,.end flaps depending from said end walls and side flaps depending from saidside walls at thetop and bottom of said carton, said end flaps being folded inwardly and said side flapsv being folded over said, end flaps in overlapping relation, andan adhesive strip securing the .free edgeof the outer one of the side flaps to the opposite side wall to close the top and bottom of said carton.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,998,515 4/1935 Miller 206-62 2,292,802 8/1942 Steck et al 206-62 2,761,558 9/1956 McLean 206-62, 2,896,832 7/1959 Lane 206-62 X 2,896,833 7/1959 Markham 206-62 X 3,091,331 5/1963 Peeters 206-62 THE'RON E. CONDON, Pr mary Examiner.

M.- CASKIE, Assistant Examinertop of said container, an adhesive strip secured along the. 

1. A CONTAINER FOR PACKAGING FRANGIBLE SHEET MATERIAL, COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR CARTON HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED, RELATIVELY LARGE SIDE WALLS JOINED BY NARROW END WALLS, FLAPS DEPENDING FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE WALLS FOLDED AND SECURED IN OVERLAPPING RELATION TO CLOSE THE BOTTOM AND TOP OF SAID CONTAINER, A PLURALITY OF RECTANGULAR SHEETS STACKED IN FACE-TO-FACE RELATIONSHIP WITHIN SAID CARTON, A CORNER PAD OVER EACH CORNER OF SAID STACK OF SHEETS, AND 